WNBA expansion is officially here. For the first time since 2008, a new franchise will join the league next season, when the Golden State Valkyries begin play.

With Golden State joining the fold, the WNBA will hold its first Expansion Draft in 16 years on Friday. Because it’s been a while, we put together a quick overview of how the Expansion Draft works and how it could impact the Fever and the other 11 WNBA franchises.

Each of the 12 existing WNBA teams was asked to submit a Roster List to the league office that included every player to whom the team has their rights as of the final day of the 2024 regular season. That list would include all players on the team’s active, suspended, draft list/reserved, core, and retired lists.

From that Roster List, each team was allowed to designate up to six “Protected Players” who will not be available for selection in the Expansion Draft. While those lists were submitted to the league and shared with the Valkyries, they will not be made public. Teams are able to protect players that are set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason.

On Friday, the Valkyries will have the chance to select one non-protected player from each of the other 12 franchises. They are not obligated to pick a player from every franchise and cannot select more than one player from any franchise.

Golden State can select only one non-protected player that is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent. If the Valkyries do select an unrestricted free agent, that player cannot have previously played under a Core Player contract for two or more seasons. If Golden State selects an unrestricted free agent that fits that criteria, the Valkyries will then be able to designate that player as its Core Player in January.

What is a Core Player designation? Designating a pending unrestricted free agent as a Core Player signs that player to a one-year, super-max contract with the team that owns their rights. A player can only be given the Core Player designation twice in their career.

The Expansion Draft also presents a few different opportunities for Golden State to make trades with other franchises. The Valkyries are allowed to select a non-protected player from one franchise and then trade that player to another team. Teams can also negotiate a deal with Golden State to either not select or select a specific non-protected player from their roster list in exchange for other assets.

The results of the 2024 WNBA Expansion Draft will be broadcast on ESPN on Friday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 PM ET.